The Allotment Society’s AGM will take place on Saturday, 29 July at 3pm at the Hertford Avenue site by the Trading Shed. I hope you can join us for the meeting after which there will be afternoon tea and cake available and a chance to talk to other plot holders.
We encourage all members to attend so you can see the Committee working in a transparent way, and have your say. This is your Society and the Committee would welcome your views, questions, and support.
The Trading Shed, run by Mark and supported by Katie, is the cornerstone to our BHAS allotment community. Not only does it provide low-cost gardening staples to BHAS members, the Trading Shed and the grass common area next to it both serve as the primary gathering space for our community events held each year.
The mature roses bed alongside the Trading Shed were planted and are beautifully maintained by Mary – and I’m sure I’m not the only one who enjoys their summer display!
However, when compared with Mary’s roses, the area behind the Trading Shed and the plot next to the grass common have been significantly…less loved. Each year these areas quickly become overrun with long grass, brambles, and nettles, rendering them unusable during our community events.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been any progress made to improve the common areas in recent memory. Of course, the improvements to the compost, mulch, and wood log bays can’t go unmentioned. However, some of the other improvements made may have flown under the radar:
Caption: Notice the overgrown grass, brambles, and the nettles in the back left behind the shed.
Late last year, the plot to the right of the Trading Shed and the grass common area was given up and it has reverted back to the Council; the BHAS committee is beginning to explore ways this plot could be used in the future to better serve our community.
In the interim, in an effort to tidy up the common areas and create more usable space for our community, a group of volunteers have started to gather at 9:30am on Saturday mornings for a few hours. If you’ve visited the shed in the past few weeks, you may have seen us working or having a cup of tea and some divine home-baked treats!
The group has made significant progress and so far has:
Captions: Shed and vacant plot before photo; weeded brambles around plot shed and covered with cardboard; weeded compost mound behind Trading Shed; plot shed has been dismantled; and the vacant plot’s beds have been weeded and covered with cardboard.
Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped so far and to those who have and continue to donate cardboard with tape or stickers removed.
If you’d like to join us to continue the community effort to tidy up the common area, we’re meeting every Saturday (weather permitting) at 9:30am for a few hours. There’s great company, tea/coffee, and home-baked goodies as motivation.
I’ve created a BHAS Community Volunteer WhatsApp Group to better coordinate efforts; if you’d like to join the Volunteering group, please email BHAS bhas.social.news@gmail.com to be added.
-Sarah
The 2021 BHAS Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on 6 November 2021 at the Communal Garden at Hertford Avenue. After no AGM was held in 2020 and a delayed 2021 AGM, both due to COVID-19, it was wonderful to see many BHAS members and to address the business of the allotment society.
The BHAS remains in good financial standing and any ideas for improvements on the plots can be put forward to your site rep. Additionally, donations were made to four charities, each to receive £250.
Our sincere thanks to the committee members continuing in their positions and a big welcome to the newly elected committee members! The Allotment Society Committee are all volunteers and the Society’s principal concerns are the well-being of the allotments and promoting the interests of our members.
If you are interested in volunteering for the society, please let us know as there remain a few open positions.
The agenda, minutes, chair’s report, and treasurer’s report can be accessed here:
Mark your calendars! The Surrey Sharpeners will be at the Hertford Avenue Allotment site on Saturday, 29th May from 10am.
Please do bring along any tools you need sharpening.
Price list is as below.
As mentioned the April 2021 newsletter, later this year we are considering holding in-person events for the AGM and Annual Show. It would be really helpful if you could let us know whether you would consider attending these events, by answering the following questions in a survey we have put together, so we can plan accordingly.
Many thanks for your help with this.
An updated price list for the Trading Shed has been updated to the Trading Shed website along with sizes and general stock.
The Shed is currently open on Saturday and Sundays from 11am and noon.
The Trading Shed is located at the Hertford Avenue allotment site located at Hertford Avenue, SW14 8EQ and run by Mark and Sheena.
The Trading Shed is one of the benefits of Barnes Horticultural and Allotment Society (BHAS) membership; discounted seeds, fertilisers, and other gardening supplies are available for purchase during the growing season.
All stock is offered at a discount to garden centre prices to BHAS members.
The water system will be turned back on between March 22 – 28.
Please can you keep a lookout for leaks, which may have occurred over the winter, and let your site rep know the location of any that you see asap so these can be fixed.
Following last year’s very competitive sunflower competition, BHAS is again offering its members free sunflower seeds at the trading shed for spring planting. Pick up a pack of seeds (one pack per BHAS plotholder) at the trading shed and start to prepare your garden for some bee-friendly competition!
The variety available this year is Giant Sunflower Titan.
The seeds will be at the trading shed starting Saturday, 20 March while supplies last.
Sunflowers will form two new categories in the Annual Show in September and your sunflower can be entered into the show along with the other categories; if the show is not able to go forward, we will arrange an online entry form like we did last year – so the sunflower competition will go forward!
Pick up a packet of seeds or use your own; plant them when you’re ready.
One of the tallest-growing and easily the biggest-headed and seeded variety available to gardeners. Perfect for impressing your neighbors and winning competitions. The plants will need support reaching up to 12ft with large yellow flower heads plants can reaching 18-24″ across! The seeds are large and ideal for consumption or leaving for over-winter birds. Annual.
Source: Premier Seeds Direct
Measure the diameter of the seed head. The flower petals should not be included. Heads should be cut from the stock (unless also entering the same plant into the tallest sunflower category).
Measured from the base of the stem (not including the roots) to the top of the head. The head can be extended to measure the full height of the plant. We ask that gardeners cut off the roots to make it easier to measure the stem. Please also remove leaves from the stalk.
Please do send us any photos you have of your sunflowers (from seed to competition-winning size!) as we would like to share the journey on social media or on the website. Photos can be sent to bhas.social.news@gmail.com.
Thank you and good luck!
We have today received the following notice from Richmond Council regarding the invoice you have been sent for your allotment rent.
“Due to the implementation of a new process for generating annual invoices, a technical error resulted in the rents charged to concessionary plot holders and standard plot holders being reversed. To resolve, credit notes will be raised to cancel all invoices issued on 1st October 2020 and revised invoices with the correct charges will be issued during the w/c 12th October. Plot holders who are ‘Out of Borough’ are not affected.”
The results are in!
Throughout the summer months, the sunflower population on BHAS plots has been impressive with some absolutely stunning displays. It’s the perfect time, given this week’s wet weather, to revisit some of the impressive yellow giants seen on the East Sheen allotments.
The 2020 Sunflower Competition was originally intended to be a new addition to the BHAS Annual Show traditionally held in September, adding two categories for height and biggest seed head; to mark the new categories, in March, Mongolian Giant sunflower seeds were donated to the Trading Shed by Dino Franz from Hertford 26 and offered for free until they were all claimed.
Due to COVID-19, the Annual Show in September did not go forward, but a virtual growing competition was organised for a bit of lockdown fun.
Entries were submitted through an online form from mid-August through the end of September. Without any further ado, the results are below.
Measured from the base of the stem (not including the roots) to the top of the head. The head can be extended to measure the full height of the plant.
🌻 Winner: Susan Borrett, Triangle 8A – 3960mm tall
🥈Runner up: John Padgett, Hertford 41a – 3720mm tall
Measure the diameter of the seed head. The flower petals should not be included.
🌻 Winner: Juan Ramlill, Pavillion 6b – 400mm in diameter
🥈Runner up: John Padgett, Hertford 41a – 370mm in diameter
Thanks to everyone for the beautiful display of sunflowers on our plots and your entries; congratulations to the winners. I think we can agree it was a close competition and fun distraction during lockdown and attracted countless beneficial pollinators and bugs to our plots.
The BHAS Committee looks forward to seeing next years’ sunflowers!
-Sarah W, Hertford 26
BHAS Allotment Society 